3 Foot Teddy Bears and Pink Parades

I can honestly say I've never been anti-Valentines Day, even when I was single. However, I do feel it is a stupid holiday. Don't get me wrong I love all the heart decorations and seeing pink and red everywhere, and I absolutely ADORE those candy hearts with the sayings on them that get cheesier by the year, but if you really take a look at the holiday you may agree with me.

Love should be celebrated 365 days a year, who says it has to be on one day that the government says we should in hopes to boost morale and the economy with ridiculous spending on flowers, candy, and cards. I feel this day forces people to show affection rather than doing it out of their love. Probably any girl would agree that getting flowers as a random surprise is one of the best feelings vs. a day that puts pressure on the significant other to give them flowers. Now I am most certainly not saying I don't like getting flowers because they happen to be the prettiest thing nature has provided us with and I love getting them but maybe for some guys I can see it as an simple way out and an easy way to get laid.

I don't think Valentines Day should be a day to shower your partner with gifts either. Save that microwave you've wanted to get the hubby for his birthday and instead go a more personal route. This Valentines Day I am giving my boyfriend things from the heart that show him how much I love him. For me it's the little and most sentimental things that make me the happiest. I don't need a pink parade on steroids, or a 3-foot Teddy Bear that takes up half my room, all I need is a sweet reminder telling me how much you love me. 

Maybe I am wrong though considering I am young and have been in my current relationship for only a year; I am still considered to be in the so-called "honey moon" phase. Maybe when you get older you need this holiday to break up the hectic workdays, TV dinners, and kids soccer practices to make you stop for one day to show your appreciation and love for each other.

But then again, call me hypocritical because I feel on one hand Feb 14^th shouldn't be such a huge deal in a relationship but on the other, if my boyfriend didn't do something special I would be PISSED. So I guess the facts are in- I am a woman and I live up to all the reasons why men think women are so confusing, because I even confuse myself most of the time!

So as I think of reasons to defend my opinion on V-day I start to wonder why do we celebrate Valentines Day to begin with? Was it really a holiday invented to make all single women feel lonely? What's the history behind it? Most people could care less and be happy with the chocolates and not care about the ancient story behind Valentines Day but this intrigued me...

Valentines Day was originally known as Saint Valentines Day named after Christian martyrs who were called Valentine. The Valentines that are honored on February 14^th are Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni and we honor them both as one entity. These priests have practically no connection with love except for one story I found on Wikipedia that I found to be so interesting...

"Legenda Aurea (Readings of the Saints) still providing no connections whatsoever with sentimental love, appropriate lore has been embroidered in modern times to portray Valentine as a priest who refused an unattested law attributed to Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men remain single. The Emperor supposedly did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and thrown in jail....on the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he wrote the first "valentine" himself, addressed to a young girl variously identified as his beloved, as the jailer's daughter whom he had befriended and healed, or both. It was a note that read 'From your Valentine.'"

So there ya have it. You can now go blow your friends' minds at happy hour this week knowing that fun fact.

Doesn't it seem like Valentine's Day was the most fun back in elementary school where you would spend hours debating over Aladdin or Pocahontas valentines and then spend another hour deciding what to write on the one addressed to your secret crush in the class. Back then it didn't matter how big of a bouquet you got, or how big the box of candy was, all that mattered was if you got a paper valentine from your crush that you would then hang on your corkboard beside your bed next to the Teen Bop poster of NSYNC and look at it every night before you went to bed....no?....just me? Ok, well anyway, what I am trying to say is however you spend your valentines day, single, taken, married, divorced, gay, or straight, I hope you recognize all the love around you and show those people how much you love having them in your life. Happy Valentines Day :)